CriticalThought
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The recent Coronavirus pandemic has truly unhinged normal operations throughout the world. As is the norm with all travesties that befall us, certain quarters have taken advantage of the current state of disarray to push forward their own agendas. Chief amongst them is the concept that scientific thought and knowledge is superior to any other system of thinking, including religious beliefs and teachings. Innocent people who do not have a deep understanding of science are easily swayed by the apparent superiority of this scientific onslaught. In this article, we introduce the common man to the limits of science, and the remit of both religion and science in Islamic teachings.
Prominent Rationalists and Atheists forcefully highlight the logic and realism in following scientific inquiry. For the layman, science and scientific findings thus becomes an unquestionable and indisputable fact which must be accepted without any room for contrarian thought. But if there is one lesson that science teaches us, it is the limitation of its own application. A classic result of physics is the prediction of the trajectory of a projectile of known mass which is thrown upwards at an angle with a known force. The ability to predict where this projectile will land is a matter of pride for science. But can this knowledge be applied in the real world? It turns out that a real projectile thrown in the real world will encounter forces and parameters that have not been envisaged in the theory. Yes, if you have an idea vacuum, the only force acting on the projectile is the force of gravity, the gravitational acceleration is known accurately and remains constant, the force with which the projectile is thrown can be measured accurately, the angle at which it is thrown can be measured accurately, and the mass of the projectile is known accurately, then the position where it will fall can be known in advance. In reality, the very air through which it moves will exhibit friction, the gravitational acceleration is only estimated and may vary along the entire trajectory, and all measurements, whether it is force, or angle, or mass, they all have a degree of uncertainty to them. All of these combine to create an uncertainty which can never be eliminated.
This lesson of uncertainty is reinforced in science and engineering texts. Books on modelling emphasize that a model is always only an approximation of the real world. But the magic of science continues to mesmerize gullible people. The reason is simple. In normal conditions, the uncertainties are small enough that people gloss over them. In other cases such as weather reporting, although predictions regularly turn out to be bogus, but people accept these failures without paying too much attention. But then we encounter a situation where science is of no help. If science were so powerful, surely it would give us the cure for Coronavirus? But Glory Be to Allah the Almighty, science acknowledges its defeat and offers the next best solution: avoidance.
In general, the follower of the scientific method is limited by his own abilities to measure, sense, and understand. Such a person is doomed to fall into every single pothole on the road that science couldn't show him because of his own limited ability to measure, sense, and understand. He may learn a lesson on how to avoid the pothole next time, but the lesson may not be relevant next time. And once he has fallen into enough potholes, he may actually forget some of the lessons learnt previously.
On the contrary, religion tells us that Allah the Almighty hasn't simply Created us and then left us to our own devices. Alhamdulillah, our Lord Allah the Almighty has given us detailed instructions that are sufficient to guide all of mankind through any and all travesties, calamities, and disasters that may befall us up until the Day of Judgement. Our beautiful religion has given us specific, rational, and useful instructions that guide us away from many problems. A specific example relevant to Coronavirus is the Islamic Commandment of five times prayers. From Fazail-e-Amal, Virtues of Salaah, Hadith No. 4:
fazaileamaal.com/3_hadith4.htm
Whereas science tells us to use hand sanitizers, the beautiful religion of Allah has enjoined mandatory personal hygiene upon us that will definitely keep us clean. Next comes the Sunnah of our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. The follower of will perform Miswak (the act of cleaning the teeth using a cutting of branch from a tree) that will ensure his oral hygiene. And one of the major modes of transmission of the Coronavirus is lack of oral hygiene. Similarly, Islam teaches us to use only the left hand for performing unhygienic activities such as cleaning of excretory orifices. Again, one of the modes of transmission of Coronavirus is fecal matter.
So far we have seen examples where religion and science are in harmony. But we need to understand there will be instances where religion shall go against conventional logic. One of the repeated examples from the Holy Quran is our belief of afterlife which goes totally against common observation. For example,
https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en#aya=17_49
17:49-52
This stands completely against scientific teachings and the system of thought that is founded upon observation and experimentation. At this one may validly ask: where is the boundary where religion overrides science? Alhamdulillah, our beautiful religion has given us guidance on the matter.
http://sunnah.com/muslim/43/184
http://sunnah.com/muslim/43/186
This Hadith provides a very simple test for us. If religion has given us specific guidance in any matter, that guidance overrides any technical or worldly knowledge. In any given situation, it is incumbent upon us to reach out to Ulema (religious scholars) and seek guidance in accordance with the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. This guidance must be valued over and above the guidance received from worldly sources such as WHO, UN, or America.
I would like to take this opportunity to briefly comment on the correlation between the emergence of Coronavirus and the horrendous manner in which mankind has taken up arms against the commands of Allah. The Holy Quran says:
https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en#aya=4_117
I would like the reader to note the part about I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah. Now consider these news stories:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...-hybrid-embryo-chimera-organs-health-science/
https://www.theguardian.com/science...onkey-chimera-raises-concern-among-scientists
There are experiments being conducted to introduce human stem cells into monkey and pig embryos. This is a clear incident of changing the creation of Allah. Is it any wonder then that we are facing a calamity where science fails us completely? As Muslims, we must ask ourselves, are we going to follow the instructions of transgressors who are perverting the creation of Allah in such fundamental ways?
We know from Ahadith, that the end of times will bring around strange calamities. The Coronavirus pandemic should serve as a warning to the entire mankind to stop its transgressions and the perversion of nature. And for us Muslims, it should bring a reality check on exactly what our ideals are? Are we going to be guided by Quran and Sunnah with the help of Ulema, or are we going to blindly follow science and pagans? I would like to leave the reader with one final thought to reflect upon. Whereas experiments are being conducted to create Human-Monkey and Human-Pig chimeras, our beloved Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam has warned us 1400 years ago about the end of times:
http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/33/54
I pray to Allah for all Muslims from beginning of time to its end. May He Forgive our sins and Protect us from the travesties of this life and troubles of death and hereafter. May He Shower us with Forgiveness and Mercy, and Assign us the highest rewards in Paradise. Aameen.
Prominent Rationalists and Atheists forcefully highlight the logic and realism in following scientific inquiry. For the layman, science and scientific findings thus becomes an unquestionable and indisputable fact which must be accepted without any room for contrarian thought. But if there is one lesson that science teaches us, it is the limitation of its own application. A classic result of physics is the prediction of the trajectory of a projectile of known mass which is thrown upwards at an angle with a known force. The ability to predict where this projectile will land is a matter of pride for science. But can this knowledge be applied in the real world? It turns out that a real projectile thrown in the real world will encounter forces and parameters that have not been envisaged in the theory. Yes, if you have an idea vacuum, the only force acting on the projectile is the force of gravity, the gravitational acceleration is known accurately and remains constant, the force with which the projectile is thrown can be measured accurately, the angle at which it is thrown can be measured accurately, and the mass of the projectile is known accurately, then the position where it will fall can be known in advance. In reality, the very air through which it moves will exhibit friction, the gravitational acceleration is only estimated and may vary along the entire trajectory, and all measurements, whether it is force, or angle, or mass, they all have a degree of uncertainty to them. All of these combine to create an uncertainty which can never be eliminated.
This lesson of uncertainty is reinforced in science and engineering texts. Books on modelling emphasize that a model is always only an approximation of the real world. But the magic of science continues to mesmerize gullible people. The reason is simple. In normal conditions, the uncertainties are small enough that people gloss over them. In other cases such as weather reporting, although predictions regularly turn out to be bogus, but people accept these failures without paying too much attention. But then we encounter a situation where science is of no help. If science were so powerful, surely it would give us the cure for Coronavirus? But Glory Be to Allah the Almighty, science acknowledges its defeat and offers the next best solution: avoidance.
In general, the follower of the scientific method is limited by his own abilities to measure, sense, and understand. Such a person is doomed to fall into every single pothole on the road that science couldn't show him because of his own limited ability to measure, sense, and understand. He may learn a lesson on how to avoid the pothole next time, but the lesson may not be relevant next time. And once he has fallen into enough potholes, he may actually forget some of the lessons learnt previously.
On the contrary, religion tells us that Allah the Almighty hasn't simply Created us and then left us to our own devices. Alhamdulillah, our Lord Allah the Almighty has given us detailed instructions that are sufficient to guide all of mankind through any and all travesties, calamities, and disasters that may befall us up until the Day of Judgement. Our beautiful religion has given us specific, rational, and useful instructions that guide us away from many problems. A specific example relevant to Coronavirus is the Islamic Commandment of five times prayers. From Fazail-e-Amal, Virtues of Salaah, Hadith No. 4:
fazaileamaal.com/3_hadith4.htm
Whereas science tells us to use hand sanitizers, the beautiful religion of Allah has enjoined mandatory personal hygiene upon us that will definitely keep us clean. Next comes the Sunnah of our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. The follower of will perform Miswak (the act of cleaning the teeth using a cutting of branch from a tree) that will ensure his oral hygiene. And one of the major modes of transmission of the Coronavirus is lack of oral hygiene. Similarly, Islam teaches us to use only the left hand for performing unhygienic activities such as cleaning of excretory orifices. Again, one of the modes of transmission of Coronavirus is fecal matter.
So far we have seen examples where religion and science are in harmony. But we need to understand there will be instances where religion shall go against conventional logic. One of the repeated examples from the Holy Quran is our belief of afterlife which goes totally against common observation. For example,
https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en#aya=17_49
17:49-52
This stands completely against scientific teachings and the system of thought that is founded upon observation and experimentation. At this one may validly ask: where is the boundary where religion overrides science? Alhamdulillah, our beautiful religion has given us guidance on the matter.
http://sunnah.com/muslim/43/184
http://sunnah.com/muslim/43/186
This Hadith provides a very simple test for us. If religion has given us specific guidance in any matter, that guidance overrides any technical or worldly knowledge. In any given situation, it is incumbent upon us to reach out to Ulema (religious scholars) and seek guidance in accordance with the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. This guidance must be valued over and above the guidance received from worldly sources such as WHO, UN, or America.
I would like to take this opportunity to briefly comment on the correlation between the emergence of Coronavirus and the horrendous manner in which mankind has taken up arms against the commands of Allah. The Holy Quran says:
https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en#aya=4_117
I would like the reader to note the part about I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah. Now consider these news stories:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...-hybrid-embryo-chimera-organs-health-science/
https://www.theguardian.com/science...onkey-chimera-raises-concern-among-scientists
There are experiments being conducted to introduce human stem cells into monkey and pig embryos. This is a clear incident of changing the creation of Allah. Is it any wonder then that we are facing a calamity where science fails us completely? As Muslims, we must ask ourselves, are we going to follow the instructions of transgressors who are perverting the creation of Allah in such fundamental ways?
We know from Ahadith, that the end of times will bring around strange calamities. The Coronavirus pandemic should serve as a warning to the entire mankind to stop its transgressions and the perversion of nature. And for us Muslims, it should bring a reality check on exactly what our ideals are? Are we going to be guided by Quran and Sunnah with the help of Ulema, or are we going to blindly follow science and pagans? I would like to leave the reader with one final thought to reflect upon. Whereas experiments are being conducted to create Human-Monkey and Human-Pig chimeras, our beloved Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam has warned us 1400 years ago about the end of times:
http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/33/54
I pray to Allah for all Muslims from beginning of time to its end. May He Forgive our sins and Protect us from the travesties of this life and troubles of death and hereafter. May He Shower us with Forgiveness and Mercy, and Assign us the highest rewards in Paradise. Aameen.
